Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon surged last month to the highest May level since the current monitoring method began, prompting concerns president Jair Bolsonaro is giving a free pass to illegal logging, farming and mining.

According to data from Brazil’s satellite monitoring agency, the rainforest lost 739 square kilometres during the month, which is equivalent to the size of two football fields every minute.

An estimated 120,000 people have taken part in anti-government protests in the Czech capital Prague, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Andrej Babis over corruption allegations.

Mr Babis, who was elected on an anti-corruption and Eurosceptic platform, denies accusations of fraud outlined in an EU report, which demands the return of almost 17 million euros in EU subsidies.

The protests are the largest in the country since the fall of communism during the 1989 Velvet Revolution.

The Australian Federal Police have raided the home of News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst, acting on a warrant investigating “alleged publishing of information classified as an official secret.”

The raid comes after Smethurst last year published a leaked government plan to allow intelligence agencies to secretly access the emails, bank accounts and text messages of Australian citizens for the first time.  

Secret documents obtained by the NSW Greens have revealed 340 buildings in Sydney are at risk from flammable cladding.

The list of buildings, obtained under Freedom of Information laws, includes University of Sydney lecture theatres, a child care centre and student housing.

NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge says the Coalition state government is doing nothing to address the issue, and have “handed the whole mess to local councils without providing any new powers or resources to fix it.”

A Brisbane fertiliser plant operated by Incitec Pivot will remain open until at least the end of 2022 after signing a new gas supply deal, securing more than 400 jobs.

The Gibson Island plant uses gas as a feedstock to produce industrial chemicals and fertilisers, distributing to more than 4000 cotton, sugarcane and sorghum farmers in Queensland and northern New South Wales.

The Brisbane City Council has proposed a new apartment plan, requiring all new apartment buildings to have two car park spaces for all two-bedroom apartments, instead of one.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner told the council chamber the planned legislative change was designed to improve parking issues in suburbs and resolve frustrations around parking demands.

The proposed amendment to the council’s city plan was voted on at last Tuesday’s council meeting, and will be submitted to the state government for approval to move to community consultation.

Brisbane’s deputy mayor Krista Adams says the state government should either conserve six hectares of koala habitat land located near Toohey Forest, or give it to the Brisbane City Council.

Councillor Adams says the council is happy to negotiate with the government for the purchase of the land, but the land will not be purchased at its full commercial value of $6 million.

The impacts of climate change on Queensland have been outlined in a recent Ernst and Young report suggesting a lack of change in policies have severe environmental and economic repercussions for the state.

The report outlines a recommended “2-degree scenario” where policy implemented globally aims to keep temperature increases to within 2 degrees of pre-industrial levels.

The Morrison government will redirect migrants to key areas and push back against the Treasury’s reliance on immigration to boost economic growth and tax revenue.

The new Minister for Population, Alan Tudge, says five regional areas will be named as the focus of council and business sponsorship arrangements designed to take population pressures off the east coast by pulling more skilled migrants into the regions.